Opinions requested

Since the weather was so bad on Sunday when we were at Viera, I've basically gone through all my shots. I kept coming back to this one...intrigued by the lines in the water, the subtle colors of the bird set against the grey of the water, and the bird itself. I decided to play around with it in Photoshop and came out with this crop.

Don't know why but it does something for me. I was thinking about some title to go along with it but can't come up with anything creative, probably because of this stupid cold medicine frying my brain. Anyway, I added a double matte, played around with the colors and added a frame ending up with the image below.

What do you think of this as a potential for enlargement? I was kind of inspired by Harris' "Ducks in a Row" shot and Gordon's thread earlier about what is art vs. photography. I didn't really do anything to the image other than USM and a slight boost in saturation.

I'd post this in the Retouching Forum but since there's a large audience of bird lovers here, I'd rather have your opinions. Is it worth doing anything with or should I just trash it? Does it have merit or is my cold medicine making me loupy? :redface:

Gale, I tried the flip thing in PS and to be honest, it feels unbalanced to me. I know it's a 2 dimensional image but facing right the picture feels like he's leaving. Facing left, the picture to me feels like he's coming. It just doesn't feel right to me flipped. Appreciate the suggestion, though.

I've always been intrigued by gray/black/brown/white color combinations and I think that's part of what attracts me to this shot. That and the solitude of the little bird on a calm pond just doin his thing!

Appreciate your defending the shot, Jim. I'm trying to learn to sometimes break the rules and not be so rigid! :wink:

#1, I'm Jealous :wink:
#2, I'm glad you didn't like the "flip" version
#3, I'd really like to see it "coming in", I think, rather than "going out", but I can't say for sure
#4, I did an "on-screen crop" by simply moving the browser to the right, and I find it a bit more to my taste cropping out the empty right side up to where the wake is really evident, but I don't like it enough more to not REALLy like this one.

I like the colors, frame, and 'squatted' crop. But I can't make up my mind if I like him on the left. I don't dislike it, but I might like it better if he were facing the same direction, but on the right side of the frame. If it had a bigger wake (turbo duck:smile: ), I might like it better as is.
On the other hand, the more I look at, the more I like it the way you have it.

Hi Kevin, yor question is very deep. Too deep for this time of night. LOL
Been staring here for the past 10 minutes and will put a different spin on things..........man this is a very personal thing except for Jim, he needs to learn how to shoot left to right anyways

I luv the framing and the panovision look, the colors matched with the framing set it off. Luv the black, white, brown thing going on. Im just not sold on the crop as it leaves me empty stairing away. B U T what I think would be cool is for 2 prints. One as is! the second reverse so both pictures would be hung together as if in a series. That would balance it out for me and personally think it would look cool!! Although both pictures individually not balanced but together a piece of art not photography. Sorry had to get that in. Thought I would come at a different angle with this. The reverse is easy to do in PS, just flip the entire pic................

Hi Kevin, yor question is very deep. Too deep for this time of night. LOL
Been staring here for the past 10 minutes and will put a different spin on things..........man this is a very personal thing except for Jim, he needs to learn how to shoot left to right anyways

I luv the framing and the panovision look, the colors matched with the framing set it off. Luv the black, white, brown thing going on. Im just not sold on the crop as it leaves me empty stairing away. B U T what I think would be cool is for 2 prints. One as is! the second reverse so both pictures would be hung together as if in a series. That would balance it out for me and personally think it would look cool!! Although both pictures individually not balanced but together a piece of art not photography. Sorry had to get that in. Thought I would come at a different angle with this. The reverse is easy to do in PS, just flip the entire pic................

Click to expand...

Have you ever thought of going into mediation?

That might be a great idea which I hadn't thought of. Then, it begs the question: Do I place them facing each other or away from each other? (No, really, I'm just kidding!):wink: Thanks for the ideas!

That might be a great idea which I hadn't thought of. Then, it begs the question: Do I place them facing each other or away from each other? (No, really, I'm just kidding!):wink: Thanks for the ideas!

Click to expand...

Hmmm, ANOTHER tough question. I think I'd leave the "composition of the hanging" to the "hanger". You could have one swimming up-stream and one down-stream, by hanging at the appropriate angle. You could have them swimming toward each other, like in a Shampoo ad, but then you would want to add some music, maybe a new twist on the Billy Bass. Top and Bottom, oh, the possibilities are endless aren't they??? Just boggles the mind....see what you have done to us? I hope you are happy.......:wink:

Much as I hate to admit this, I think he has a good idea, how about flipping one and putting them up together for a look-see?

Nikon Cafe is not affiliated with Nikon Corporation or any of its holdings.

Links in this page may be to our affiliates. Sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.